Our team and mission

This position can be based

• At the European Space and Research Technology Centre (ESTEC) – Noordwijk, Netherlands    
• At the ESA HQ – Paris, France
• At the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) - Darmstadt, Germany

The ESA Space Safety Programme Office takes care of all potential hazards from space or in space, which can impact human activities on Earth or again in space. The spectrum of tasks ranges from gathering the basic understanding of space hazards originating from our Sun, from man-made space debris, or from asteroids potentially colliding with the Earth. It also addresses basic approaches to mitigate these hazards and to implement space systems end-to-end in a sustainable and eco-compatible way. Moreover, several corner stone missions are underway to demonstrate basic methods of space weather forecasting, asteroid deflection and active space debris removal from orbit. 

In execution of these tasks, the Space Safety Office has the following entities: 

• Space Weather Office (OPS-SW) 
• Planetary Defence Office (OPS-SP) 
• Space Debris Office (OPS-SD) 
• Clean Space Office (OPS-SC) 
• Frequency Management Office (OPS-SF) 

The Cleanspace Office contributes to implementing ESA’s ambition to safeguard terrestrial and orbital environments while boosting the innovation and competitiveness of Europe’s space sector. In practice, this means to clean up and keep clean our precious space environment as well as to reduce the environmental impacts of our activities.

Candidates interested are encouraged to visit the ESA websites: http://www.esa.int and

https://blogs.esa.int/cleanspace/.

Field(s) of activity for the internship

You can choose between the following topics:
 
1) Topic 1: Clean Space coordination 
 
You will have the opportunity to support the team in preparing, developing, implementing and maintaining the overall programmatic aspects of the projects. You will also be involved in the ESA Clean Space communication strategy, support the online presence of the initiative and help with the outreach activities. 

2) Topic 2: Ecodesign for space 

It is essential to understand the environmental impact of space missions to be able to tackle the problem. ESA has been pioneering this field and became a world-wide leader in ecodesign for space. The Agency has published the first dedicated Life-Cycle Assessment Handbook and a specific database.  

You will have the opportunity to support the team to wrap-up past studies and support on-going studies to define the way forward. 

3) Topic 3: Zero Debris approach and End-of-Life Management

The traffic in valuable Earth orbits is and will continue to increase exponentially. Despite internationally recognised space debris mitigation guidelines, technical standards, and national space regulations, the disposal of space systems from protected regions and the prevention of in-orbit break-ups still have a low success rate.  This calls for the need to improve End-of-Life management of missions flying in Earth orbits of high interest. ESA aims to act as a role model driving space sustainability forward, through the deployment of the Zero Debris approach.  

You will be supporting the team working on further developing the Zero Debris approach and improving the End-of-Life Management of missions.

4) Topic 4: Active Debris Removal and In-Orbit Servicing 

Globally significant progress has been made in both the technical and commercial validation of in-orbit servicing activities such as debris removal, AOCS takeover for life extension, asset relocation, refuelling and in-orbit inspection. Looking forward, ESA aims to contribute to the creation of the demand for In-Orbit Servicing (IOS) in Europe by fostering both the service-offering side and to stimulate and enable the demand side of the developing IOS market.  

You will be supporting the team working on enabling the In-Orbit Servicing activities at ESA.

5) Topic 5: RISE 

The RISE mission, is an in-orbit servicing mission requiring state of the art technologies for rendezvous and capture in GEO which is set for launch in 2028. 

You will be supporting the team working on implementing the RISE mission at ESA.

6) Topic 6: Clearspace-1 

 
The ClearSpace-1 mission is the first-ever Active Debris Removal mission in LEO, demonstrating various technologies for rendezvous, capture and removal of an outdated space object in 2028. 

You will support the project management and system engineering team in implementing the mission at ESA.

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

Education

You must be a university student, preferably in your final or second-to-last year of a university course at Master’s level and you need to remain enrolled at your University for the entire duration of the internship.

Additional requirements

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another Member State language would be an asset.

Having a keen interest in Clean Space activities is beneficial and having a collaborative team spirit is highly valued.